The votes are in and a whopping 32 percent of Slog voters look at the above image and feel happy.
As I watched the votes come in yesterday, I’d mentally lump the votes for Happy and Horny and Sad and Icky together, which is even more decisive, with 43 percent of voters greeting the image with happiness/horniness, and 37 percent of voters greeting the image with sadness/revulsion.
I am glad. Because even the strongest arguments against the image’s effectiveness and appropriateness—”at best, it’s presenting a dry brown leathery object as a vagina substitute, so thanks for nothing” seemed to be the general “con” argument—are responses to the piece as art, a more-or-less effective statement on the Erotic in Everyday Life (a highly effective one, I say), but definitely a work of art, and as such, argument and conflicting opinion are part of the fun, and I’m glad that in general, this piece of art made you happy and horny rather than sad and repelled. (The piece is by Deborah Alma Wheeler, by the way.)
As important as what the image is is what the image is not, and that is a painting of a sexy damsel having sexy sex on or with or in a thought balloon above the head of a unicorn.
Thank you thank you thank you. (Also, updated to correct my inappropriate use of the word “majority.”)
Mmmmm, uniporn.
32% is obviously not a majority of the voters. (Figured you’d want to fix it before Golob sees it…)
I hear unicorns sparkle.
let us buttfuck someone’s vagina and be gay
“Let’s buttfuck someone’s vagina” is my new motto.
celebrate my buttsex
I know it makes me an “angry feminist” with “no sense of humor about anything ever,” which is both ridiculous and fine, but I still don’t appreciate the theme of vagina = moneyholder/moneymaker/thing-to stuff-money-in. I KNOW it also sort looks like a “leather folio” with the world’s biggest zipper, but to me and plenty of others, it looks like a fucking wallet (hey-o!) and I’m sure the artist and the festival recognize that.
Since when does the idea of the vagina being an object of (and icon for) purchase and commerce and ownership represent healthy, sex-positive (or even original) art?
That’s why I voted “sad.” Why did the OTHER “majority” of people who voted in this poll vote “icky” and “sad”? The comments on the other thread seemed to be overwhelmingly from “happy” voters – I already know why you like it.
Mr. Poe must have voted for Icky 500 times. I think the mage is clever but it doesn’t trigger any feelings in me.
Great image, but jesus…can someone please fix the typography!?!
imo fuk dat walit
Weighing in on the side of “icky” …
When I look at this photo, first I see that it resembles a vagina. Then I notice that ginormous, central zipper. Then I imagine what it feels like — physically, corporeally — to have something as mechanical and meshed as a zipper in the center of what is a very sensitive anatomical area. And part of my brain sucks its breath in with that little whistling sound guys use when they see videos of men getting hit in the groin.
In short, sure, it’s kind of icky. It is, in fact, the best example of a vagina dentata I’ve seen in years. And I’m not arguing that the whole vag-as-wallet thing isn’t worrisome either. But damn if I can’t stop thinking about it.
@7, the image is to promote erotic art, so the designer took the idea literally and photographed a LEATHER ART PORTFOLIO so that it appeared to be a vulva. Thus, he made the vessel for transporting art erotic.
Unfortunately for the poster’s creator, not everyone is an art student or an artist who would have said object in their studio.
32% of slog is glad someone else’s vagina is more dried out and leathery than theirs.
It brings back memories of a time when I bought a pair of leather pants…and had to go commando to wear them. Bad, bad memories of time before brazil wax.
Not something I’d want to put my junk into … and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzp
shudder!
So many levels of unpleasentness. If I put money in it, will it go away?
It made me laugh, so I voted for “happy.” I also wanted to vote for “covetous” because that’s a nice briefcase.
i voted icky because i just get the heebiejeebies when i look at pictures of genitalia up that close. and yeah obviously it’s not “real” but i just like a little distance between me and the body part unless it’s real life and actually happening. all spread out like that in a photo it just looks like surgery.
@11 – Ditto.
I know a lesbian who said it was funny. So there.
@11– exactly. I couldn’t get past the zipper. Any man who’s ever gotten his schlong caught on his zipper would wince at this thing. It is a picture of embarrassing pain.
@12 – the artist is female, actually.
It’s really sad that so many of the commenters are too stupid and/or oblivious to grasp (in spite of the fact that it’s been pointed out numerous times) that the object in the picture is *not* a purse or wallet.
The connection between sex and money is apparently too strong in their own minds for them to be able to forge any other paradigms. Says more about them than the work in question.
the vote is complete bullshit. I got no less than 3 mass emails from separate sources emails encouraging me to vote happy or horny.
the true winner is ickey and sad